LAST year’s edition of the Arqana Breeze-Up Sale had a remarkable result for Norman and Janet Williamson’s Oak Tree Farm near Athboy, Co Meath. A new European record price for a horse sold at the breeze up sales, €2,300,000, was achieved for a son of Justify (Scat Daddy) that the couple bought the previous September at Keeneland for $150,000. Another son of the Ashford Stud-based sire sold for a million at the sale.

Among the seven yearlings by Justify catalogued for today’s edition of the sale are six from Irish vendors, and the first of these is another from Oak Tree Farm. Lot 9 is a half-brother to 10 winners, three of them stakes winners, and the best of these is the Grade 3 winner Carve (First Samurai) who placed in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby. His A P Indy (Seattle Slew) dam was a placed half-sister to the champion Blame (Arch), now a multiple Grade 1 sire. This colt cost Norman Williamson $250,000.

The highlight of last year’s sale came just over halfway through the session. He was a colt out of the graded stakes-placed Inchargeofme (High Chaparral), bought by Godolphin through Anthony Stroud who was in company with Charlie Appleby and David Loder.

“He’s a colt that really stood out,” said the agent at the time. “We really liked his breeze and we really wanted to bring him back to Moulton Paddocks. The sire has had very good results and he’s a remarkable stallion. We’re very happy.”

Sale topper

The Godolphin team had to see of a sustained challenge from the Coolmore associates for the Justify sale topper, and I wrote at this time last year that “they will be hoping they have found another Native Trail, sourced from the same vendor and who went on to be an unbeaten European champion juvenile and a classic winner.”

The second part of that hope has come to pass. Named Ruling Court, the three-year-old was saddled by Charlie Appleby on Saturday to land the first of two weekend British classic wins for Godolphin, the Group 1 Betfred 2000 Guineas, and play a prominent role in making it a weekend never to be forgotten for Sheikh Mohammed, even by his high standards of success. In the USA, on Friday and Saturday last, he also won both the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby and Oaks.

Bred by Nursery Place, Manfuso and Wilhite, Ruling Court only started twice at two, winning a Sandown maiden impressively on his debut before failing to justify favouritism behind The Lion In Winter and Wimbledon Hawkeye in the Group 3 Acomb Stakes at York.

He made his sophomore reappearance in Meydan where he ran away with the Listed 2000 Guineas, and now has stepped up massively in class to become a classic winner.

Remarkable stallion

Anthony Stroud was not overegging it when he described Justify as “a remarkable stallion”. The US Triple Crown winner was undefeated in six starts, went to stud in 2019, and Ruling Court is his eighth Group or Grade 1 winner, and one of 42 pattern and stakes winners he has sired. It is the quality of those winners that is even more impressive, and at the top level they are City Of Troy, Opera Singer, two Breeders’ Cup winners in Just F Y I and Hard To Justify, Ramatuelle, Aspen Grove and Arabian Lion. This year Justify has a published fee of $250,000 at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud.

Ruling Court is out of a full-sister to the Group 1 Racing Post Trophy runner-up Johann Strauss (High Chaparral), and a half-sister to Mythical (Camelot) who didn’t build on his third in the Group 1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud at two. Inchargeofme’s half-sister Emma Spencer (Zamindar) is the dam of the 2022 Grade 3 winner Nagirroc (Lea) who was placed in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf.

The third dam of Ruling Court, Incheni (Nashwan), was a stakes-winning daughter of Inchmurrin (Lomond), a Group 2 winner who was runner-up to Magic Of Life, with Ravinella third, for Sir Philip Oppenheimer in the 1988 Group 1 Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot. Inchmurrin has been a very influential broodmare, being the dam of Inchinor (Ahonoora), grandam of Miss Keller (Montjeu), and third dam of Harbour Law (Lawman) and Poet’s Word (Poet’s Voice). Ironically, she is also the third dam of The Lion In Winter (Sea The Stars) who beat Ruling Court in the Acomb Stakes.

Desert Flower blooms in the spring

WHAT a Sunday it proved to be for Kildangan Stud’s Night Of Thunder (Dubawi). His daughter Desert Flower blossomed at the right time, capping a brilliant classic weekend for Godolphin with her win in the Group 1 Betfred 1000 Guineas at Newmarket.

Two other daughters of Night Of Thunder landed significant wins on the day, Juddmonte’s homebred Sunly remaining unbeaten in the Listed Prix de la Seine at ParisLongchamp, and Dynamic Pricing getting her four-year-old campaign off in style with victory in the Grade 3 Beaugay Stakes at Belmont at the Big A. Dynamic Pricing was bred in Ireland by Denis Brosnan’s Epona Bloodstock.

They are among Night Of Thunder’s nine stakes winners in 2025, and Desert Flower joins the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley Stakes heroine Choisya as a winner at the highest level within a few weeks.

With six winners at the highest level, among 63 worldwide group and stakes winners, Night Of Thunder year on year demonstrates that he is one of the best sires in Europe, and his fee trajectory from standing two seasons at Dalham Hall for £15,000, has been rising in leaps and bounds to his current pricing at €150,000.

When Desert Flower took her unbeaten run to four in the Group 1 Fillies’ Mile last year, adding to an earlier win in the Group 2 May Hill Stakes, it was enough to see her rated the second-best juvenile filly in Britain. She showed at the weekend that she has continued to progress, and initial indications are that she could be an Oaks contender.

Owned and bred by Godolphin, Desert Flower is the second foal out of Promising Run (Hard Spun), and she is also responsible for Aablan (Dubawi) who landed the Group 3 Solario Stakes as a juvenile two years ago from just three starts. Gelded subsequently, he was most recently listed as moving to be trained by Simon and Ed Crisford.

No doubt believing in the Dubawi (Dubai Millennium) influence working on Desert Flower’s dam, Promising Run had a colt foal this spring by his son Ghaiyyath.

Global traveller

Promising Run was quite the global traveller, all but three of her 24 starts being in blacktype races. She won twice at two, including the Group 2 Rockfel Stakes, and all her later wins were abroad. She was successful three times in Group 2 races in the UAE, and in Turkey she won their valuable Group 3 Istanbul Trophy. Promising Run is the best of nine winners out of Brazilian Group 1 winner, Aviacion, a daughter of the US Grade 2 winner Know Heights (Shirley Heights).

Aviacion was the most important winner for Arbulus (Liloy) who raced unsuccessfully three times in France. However, Arbulus was a very good broodmare in Brazil, and her other winners include Cerutti (Ghadeer), four of whose eight wins were at Group 3 and listed level, and Group 3 winner and dual Group 1-placed Persane (Tampero). Arbulus is also grandam of the Group 1 Argentine winner Eddington (Contested Bid).

The other stakes winners in this family, which appear under the fourth dam Buck The Tide (Buckpasser), are the multiple Indian stakes winner The Proletarian (Conquering Hero), and the 19-time US winner Watchman’s Warning (Carnivalay), a dual minor stakes winner.